At least 160 assorted mobile phones, believed to be stolen, were recovered in separate police operations in Nairobi and Kisii.Police detained six suspects, including four Burundians, during the operation.
In Embakasi, Nairobi, one suspect was arrested with 15 assorted mobile phones.
Police are currently investigating the source of these gadgets. The operation, conducted over the weekend, aimed to curb the sale and distribution of stolen mobile devices.
The four Burundian nationals were arrested alongside one Kenyan in Kisii County while in possession of 151 mobile phones suspected to have been stolen.The foreigners were nabbed at Nyakongo Estate in an operation, which is the second one in two weeks, police said.
Police said the five were found with 60 M-Kopa mobile phones and other 91 regular phones all believed to have been stolen from the public.
Last week, three Burundi nationals were arrested and 55 assorted mobile phones were recovered from them in Kisii Town.
They were presented in court and released on bond.Detectives said they are pursuing more suspects over the issue.Police said the suspects were mobile phone smugglers.
Police suspect the gadgets had been stolen elsewhere and were being collected for transportation to an unknown market and probably the neighbouring countries.In Nairobi, several suspects have been arrested in operations targeting repair shops that handle such stolen gadgets.
Some gadgets are stolen after victims are harmed or even killed hence serious charges follow.Nairobi police boss Adamson Bungei warned second-hand mobile phone dealers and the electronic engineers or repairers handling the gadgets they will face serious charges when investigations are completed.
“If you are a mobile phone engineer or repairer stop handling stolen gadgets. You become an accomplice in the crime when found,” he said.
He said detectives are now pursuing good leads on the issue and they aim to address the menace.
Tens of mobile phone users are usually robbed on the roads by thieves who take the gadgets for repairs before they are sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Bungei encouraged those whose gadgets are stolen to always report the same to the police.
The DCI Nairobi Region Coordinator Njeru Nthiga warned mobile phone thieves operating in the guise of phone dealers and phone repair shop owners that detectives are hot on their trail, equally cautioning genuine operators to be careful while handling second-hand electronics as they may put them in serious problems with the law.
